yay! i'm glad others have been scared of sharks in the potty! my family thought i was nuts!
the people under the bed thing never has scared me. But unlocking my car in the middle of the night in the empty parking lot terrifies me! i always think that someone is hiding under the car and will slash my achilles tendons. Oh yeah! and i have to check the back seat, and make sure it's empty... which is only good sense, but i know a lot of people who don't. my mom actually had a man hide in the back seat of her car and pull a knife on her while she was driving!!!* ALWAYS check the back seat.
another random fact: i love the avatar the last airbender series so much that sometimes i watch it even when my kids aren't around to use as an excuse.
* everything turned out alright. he just had her drive him into the city. he didn't hurt her. but still!

"I do not think there is any thrill [...] like that felt by the inventor as he sees some creation of the brain unfolding to success... Such emotions make a man forget food, sleep, friends, love, everything." -- Nikola Tesla

Yep, that's my car compulsion. Then again, I used to drive through the worst part of town in the wee hours of the morning to get to work. I always ask people if they've locked their door when we get in the car. Of course, if I'm tired it comes out, "Confirm you have secured the vehicle." 911 flashback. :) I still occasionally answer my phone, "911. State your emergency." It's pretty good fun, actually. Freaks people out if they don't recognize my voice and think they somehow really dialed 911.

I was totally scared of toilets, too! I never did see Jaws, but when I was in elementary school, a friend told me that snakes could crawl up the pipes of your toilet and I was always terrified of getting bitten! Haha!

Well since we are talking childhood fears, I accidentally saw the Exorcist around the age of 7 or 8 and proceeded to demand my parents remove the frame of my bed so that my mattresses would sit directly on the floor. I thought this would make it less likely for the devil to start possessing me and throw me around like crazy on my bed (a la Regan as Captain Howdy).

Jaws--no worries...I live in Indiana, so no fear about sharks. My guilty pleasure is The GIlmore Girls...seriously...love the quippy banter and the great stories...I own every episode on DVD and I still watch it at 5 each weekday evening...actually the only TV I ever watch...

Because I can't resist the bragging: I'm finally going to see a concert from them this July, and it makes me squeal. ^^ Yay.

Random fact: I once stayed stuck at an airport for 48 hours and had to sleep there. My electronic devices ran out of power pretty quick, and all I had left was a pen and a notebook. I was never happier to be a writer.

"I do not think there is any thrill [...] like that felt by the inventor as he sees some creation of the brain unfolding to success... Such emotions make a man forget food, sleep, friends, love, everything." -- Nikola Tesla

Although I don't watch much television, my favorite show is iCarly (Squidbillies is a close second though).

My cats are canaries in the coalmine of my imagination:
As a child, any fear that followed waking from a nightmare or of monsters in the room was waylaid if one of my cats was sleeping near me. I knew they would not be sleeping if danger was nearby.
3 of my 4 cats slept next to me last night - they have never failed to protect me from myself.

I once spent an entire day with my eyes closed to see what life is like for the blind.
I once spent an entire day with earmuffs covering cotton balls and silicon earplugs to see what life is like for the deaf.

I got to play what was at the time the longest par-5 golf hole (711 yards) in the world at Wake Forest Country Club in Raleigh, North Carolina (I bogeyed it).

I sat in the backseat of a car that flipped three times.
I snapped my left humorous in half and broke my neck in five places (C2-C6) while sitting in the backseat of a car that flipped three times.

By the time I was 16, I'd flown over a quarter of a million miles by myself on passenger airlines.

I once umpired little league baseball and was terrified of making a bad call.
I once made a bad call while umpiring little league baseball.

In high school, I failed every class for one semester before getting straight A's in them the following semester.

I've been to Disneyland.

I'm allergic to chocolate - it makes me sneeze rapidly several times in a row.
As a kid, every time I'd pilfer a squirt of Hershey's Syrup from the fridge my mom would catch me, even if she was in the other room.

I've tried every standard recreational drug at least once (PROTIP: Stay away from the powders).

I once got out of a DUI by breaking the seal on a bottle of Little Syd's Gin & Juice and taking a swig of it in front of the cop.
I once got a ticket for drinking in public.

I qualified for MENSA but have not joined.

I once spent 20 days in jail.
I once fasted for 20 days.

I've had sex with 28 women and 1 man (not all at the same time).

I once sat on the edge of a cliff some 10,000 feet in the air and, while contemplating the horizon 400 miles away, watched a cloud pass just beneath my feet.

For a period of about five years, I drank at least 16 pounds (7 liters) of Mountain Dew a day.

I can not tolerate the thought of being in any standing body of water (even a bath) and I'm scared to death of the ocean.
I swam in the Atlantic Ocean.
I swam in the Pacific Ocean.

I once strung up over 4 miles of Christmas lights on my house.
I once fell off the roof of my house while stringing up Christmas lights.

I've been to Disneyworld.

I'm a retired /b/tard - for all the immense pleasure there was in seeing such awe-inspiring creativity and imagination as is displayed on the board, I could no longer bear the cost of having to witness the staggering savagery and malice humanity is capable of.

I've been lucky enough to witness, firsthand, the fury of the four elements: [water] - a hurricane (and resulting flood) in Virginia [wind] - a tornado in Georgia[earth] - an earthquake in Oregon[fire] - a cataclysmic volcanic eruption in Washington

How vain it is to sit down and write when you have not stood up to live.--Henry David Thoreau

But I am scared of aquariums. I know, this makes no sense. I like fish, I like water, I like glass. You put fish in water inside glass and I get the worst case of the willies.

And I get wicked heart palpitations and freak out if my feet get caught in the covers. Like I'm trapped and won't be able to run if my fight-or-flight kicks in. Just thinking about it now is making my chest constrict.

Very glad to live in NYC and not own a car after the fuss about engine lights. Good luck with that!